


Signalling theory

by DeadlyWeiss



Series: H.I.VE gift fic [1]
Category: Spacelords (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26315671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyWeiss/pseuds/DeadlyWeiss
Summary: Hive hadn’t expected to spend so much time with Lycus, and she certainly hadn’t expected to enjoy it so much.
Relationships: Lycus Dion/H.I.V.E
Series: H.I.VE gift fic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912093
Kudos: 1





	Signalling theory

**Author's Note:**

> This is rather different from what I usually write, so I hope I managed to make the ship justice. Enjoy!

Hive was well aware that even on the best of days, most of the other raiders found her rather off-putting — perhaps not in the same way that made them sleep with one eye open when Doldren was around, but enough for her to notice. It was understandable, too, the world had changed so much since she had undergone the ritual to become mother to her children that she had already become a relic of the past long before Harec’s people forcibly abandoned their warmongering ways; and if the inhabitants of the planet didn’t understand her, there was little hope for the humans to do so.

Which is why she had also stopped caring about who Harec assigned as her teammates. She had one or two people that she preferred over the rest, but as long as they got the job done and weren’t actively hostile to her children, she didn’t feel like wasting her energy arguing with people with whom she could barely hold a conversation.

However, it also hadn’t taken long for her to realize that said lack of complaining meant that at some point, she had become the person that got stuck with Lycus when not even Ayana or Alicia felt like putting up with him.

“And then the bastard had the balls to try and charge me.” Lycus laughed as he threw aside the remaining bit of his cigar. Normally, Cortez would have come pick them up as soon as they were finished, but this time it had been easier to simply make part of the trip on foot. “He sure won’t be pulling that shit anymore.”

By that point, Lycus had been talking for over an hour. She knew he had been talking because his mouth had been moving and sounds had been coming out, but she had understood so little of it that all she could really do when Lycus finally stopped was offer a puzzled look.

“Jesus Christ, they really haven’t bothered to teach ya common properly, have they?”

She shook her head. Cortez had successfully taught her enough to follow instructions, but not much more.

“Ya know what? I’m not doing this for God knows how fucking long.” Lycus turned around so that she could see him gesture as he spoke. “I’m teaching ya common, we’re starting as soon as we get back.”

She took a moment to make sure that she had understood right, because frankly, she couldn’t imagine Lycus teaching her _anything_. But it would be nice to know, and it wasn’t like the others would be fighting for the chance to do it themselves any time soon.

She nodded, and Lycus grinned in return.

* * *

Even if things tended to get messy whenever the Raiders sat around doing nothing for too long, Hive still enjoyed those rare moments when they all could get together and simply have fun for a little bit. It was a welcome break from all the fighting and constant worry about the safety of her children, and even at their worst, the Raiders cared for each other in a way that few of the people she had fought for did.

This time it was even livelier than usual, since the younglings of the group had managed to procure and repair a machine used by humans to make music — though most of the group was happy enough with just drinking with it in the background, or had taken an early leave like Shae and Harec, Lycus had managed to talk Ayana into dancing with him.

She wasn’t too sure _exactly_ what she was looking at, but the frantic energy made it entertaining all the same.

“That’s enough for me, cowboy.” 

Ayana used the small pause between songs to step away from Lycus, and when he tried to pull her closer again, she slapped his hand away without hesitation.

“Come on, already?”

Lycus didn’t go as far as to try to follow her, but he did turn around to watch her as she walked away, which is how their eyes ended up meeting. It was also in that moment that Hive realized that she had been staring, and given how little encouragement Lycus needed when it came to certain things, it was enough to prompt him to come over to where she was sitting.

“Ya wanna give it a try?”

She hesitated for a moment before nodding, and Lycus took her hand to help her stand up.

The amount and position of her restrains, combined with her own anatomy, made it a little awkward for him to hold her in the same way he had held Ayana, but after a couple of tries, they found one that was comfortable enough for them both. Frankly, she had expected to find him rough once she was in his arms, but even as his hands settled on her hips and they got started, he never got particularly forceful.

The problem, instead, became how hard she found it to follow the beat of the music, even when she did her best to copy the twists and turns she had seen Ayana do.

Finally, when Lycus tried to spin her around, the shackles on her legs got caught with his clothes, and the only reason she didn’t end up face-first on the floor was because Lycus had good enough reflexes to pull her back up.

“Of course the overgrown bug can’t dance.” Schneider called out from his place next to the music machine. “Hey, Lycus, don’t squash her!”

She felt her children flare up inside her with annoyance, but before she could say or do anything, Lycus beat her to it.

“Shut up, asshole, and either play some better shit or go get someone who can.“ Schneider made a gesture that she could only assume was obscene, judging by the way Lycus returned it, and the look they exchanged before Mikah walked up to Schneider and distracted him from the argument. “Ignore that bitch.”

Either because he was actually that invested in getting at least one good dance out of her or because he refused to even entertain the idea that Schneider might be right, Lycus didn’t let her go. Instead, he took a moment to untangle themselves from one another and pulled her even closer.

“Stand on my feet and relax, I’ll guide ya.”

She did as she was told and stepped on Lycus, and while she did notice that she had to basically press her body against him in order to balance herself on his feet, the thought disappeared from her mind as soon as he started moving, this time slower and more deliberately. Once Lycus seemed confident in that she wouldn’t fall again, he picked up speed, and regardless of her initial skepticism about the amount of body contact, it was much easier to allow him to move for the two of them than to try to keep up the pace.

They kept going for a bit, until her claws started to dig into Lycus’ boots, threatening with making her trip again.

“There ya go. I like women that learn fast.”

* * *

While the nomadic tribes that remained scattered around the planet did their best to support them, there was only so much they could offer, and scavenging and looting had become necessities for the Raiders in the same way that keeping her children fed was for her. Usually, it was all small stuff — food, water, pieces of material to repair and upgrade their guns, maybe a thing or two that had caught their interest and was considered worth dragging all the way back to the base.

It was rarely things as big as the mechanical beast Lycus had parked in front of the temple’s entrance.

“She’s a beauty, ain’t she?”

Hive gave a noncommittal nod. She had seen enough of those being used by the Wardogs to know that Lycus had put a good amount of work into it to make it closer to his tastes, but she simply didn’t share the same kind of passion as him when it came to mounts.

“Ya and me are taking this for a ride, sweetheart.”

“…The others already turned you down.”

Lycus didn’t deny it, but the way he smirked was more than telling.

“So? Hop on.”

It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t at least somewhat curious about the appeal of the whole thing, and to Lycus’ credit, none of the things they had done together so far had been off-putting enough to make her think that it could be anything but maybe slightly boring if it ended up going south. Worst case scenario, they would have to fight off some human stragglers and her children would get to feed before schedule.

Lycus moved forward to make room for her, and she climbed onto the seat.

“Put yer arms around my waist and hold on tight.”

The machine roared as Lycus started it, and the speed it quickly reached would have had her holding onto him as hard as she could if she hadn’t listened to him the first time he said it.

Between the noise of the wind being cut, the sand blowing under them and the aleph being consumed as it kept them going while Lycus slowed down enough to change direction before speeding up again, she could barely hear her own thoughts, and she definitely couldn’t hear whatever Lycus was trying to say. However, from the way she could feel Lycus’ heartbeat against her skin, the tensing of his muscles and the vibration of his voice, it wasn’t very hard to guess that they were yells of either excitement or encouragement.

She wasn’t sure how long Lycus had been driving her around, but it was enough for the sound of aleph to stop, replaced by something that sounded like a dying whine before the machine came to a full stop.

Lycus jumped off the seat, and after taking a moment to see what had happened, he came back to help her get off.

“Yeah, Wardog bikes do that. But it should start back up once it cools.”

She hoped so, otherwise they’d have to have to walk all the way back. Not to mention, it was starting to get dark, and the Broken Planet was even harsher at night.

“What did ya think?”

“I can see why you enjoy it.”

She intended to sit down while they waited, but the sudden gust of chilly evening air made her think twice; the sand still felt warm under her feet, but she knew it wouldn’t remain that way for long. She raised her scarf so it covered her mouth and nose, but she still must have shivered noticeably, because Lycus put a hand on her shoulder and moved her toward the front of the machine, from where a warm aleph radiation still emanated.

“Better?”

She nodded, and she wasn’t exactly sure why, but the way Lycus squeezed her arm right after made her want to her to rest her head on his shoulder.

* * *

Hive had spent enough time around Lycus to know better than to expect common sense or prudence from him; still, it had been ridiculously easy to get Lycus to agree to take her to a secluded part of the shard of the Broken Planet that the base was located on. She hadn’t even had to insist, just the promise of a surprise and a flirty look had been enough to convince him, and he hadn’t even felt the need to question why she had been carrying a large rectangular object wrapped in a cloth.

After a trip of about half an hour, which admittedly was possible in great part because they used Lycus’ salvaged mount, they finally arrived at their destination, which was a relatively shallow cave whose twists and turns meant that it was quite dark even in the middle of the day.

Lycus left their ride outside and let her lead the way.

“Well, what is it, sweetheart? Yer going to show me a good time or something?”

Hive rolled her eyes as she took a seat on top of the nearest rock, and started unwrapping the package until she could take out what she had been keeping inside — a traditional musical instrument with several strings, worn down from hundreds of years of exposure to the elements but still in good enough condition to be used with some care.

“So that’s what it is. Where did ya get that?”

“Shae found it in the temple. She let me keep it.” She nodded toward another nearby rock. “Sit down.”

She couldn’t play the kind of heavy, noisy music that Lycus liked with the instrument as it was, but the war chants of her people were fast and haunting in a way she figured Lycus would at the very least appreciate, and though she hadn’t heard them performed in thousands of years, she still recalled one or two well enough to be able to play them from start to finish.

It became rather obvious that Lycus hadn’t expected much as she started playing and he straightened up, going from just staring at her body to actually _listening_.

After a couple of minutes, even her children had begun stirring inside her, with the young ones being woken up from their slumber by the volume and vibrations of the music, while the oldest ones still remembered the feeling of once having been called to defend their queen with that very same rhythm. By the time she was about halfway through the song, they had left her body, and their circling provided not only a soft, humming sound, but a warm glow in the darkness of the cave.

“Damn, Hive. I didn’t know ya had it in ya.”

“Nin’Mug.”

“Huh?”

“Nin’Mug is my name.”

“Well, Nin’Mug.” Lycus stood up and moved to the floor right next to her. “What else can ya play on that thing?”


End file.
